Light Within Darkness
by NeoMiniTails
Summary: Rei, Kurama, Usagi, and Yusuke are in the battle of thier life. Slight: ReiKurama A great darkness has brought many heroes together to fight this great evil with the help of Catsy and Akai.
1. Prologue

The warmth of the fire didn't seem to keep to the cold, deathly vision Rei had had been having for quite some time. 'It couldn't be real, no, not this vision.' She thought this to herself as she felt the grief and destruction that had been presented to her. Her eyes shined with worry as she began to shake with fear. She thought about the vision and if it were to come true...

Life as she knew it would be no more.

That couldn't happen... no, she wouldn't allow such a thing to happen! She would protect her princess, this world, and her friends.

_**Rei, the priestess whom would give up everything for the ones she loved **_

* * *

A beautiful woman watched the people of the world with careful eyes, hidden in the shadows of the park. Her strangely colored eyes reflected her carefulness as she jumped from tree to tree as she tried to see if there were anybody worth being chosen to protect this world that many called home.

True, she had already chosen some people, but they weren't enough, not according to the rulers that she worked for diligently. There was a girl whom seemed to be a great candidate for battling for this world. However, she was sure that the girl would end up going crazy by the end of the day if she were to choose her.

"Ruki-chan!" A boy grabbed onto the wrist of the one she had been very interested in. Maybe, she'd use her if things got bad enough for her to be sent to the world of beginning and ending. Catsy couldn't deal with making a young girl go through what her and Akai go through on a daily basis.

So, instead, she threw a kinetic wristband onto her and his wrist so that she could keep track of the two... until it was time to send these great warriors to Reikai... it'd help to choose whether it'd be wise to use them, also.

A girl named Akai Sukai followed Catsy through the trees. She sighed as she went, was it really necessary to do this? What could be so big that they had to gather more power than Reikai already had? The Reikei Tantei, come on, really...however, Catsy had asked for Akai's help, and Akai couldn't refuse to help another person...especially when they asked politely.

Akai, like Catsy, was careful as she sped through the trees but not quite as much since she was known to fall out of them every once in a great while. She had learned to use trees very well, very well indeed, almost as if they were her home.

Catsy frowned, feeling a dark aura coming all around the area.. She wasn't sure if Akai could feel it but it was coming strong. Reikai's powerful forces were getting weak, she was sure of it. "Akai, m'dear, could you please go to check on Shuichi... see, if you feel the male is ready for such a ..." She didn't finish her sentence for the darkness that was being fought in another realm had become very strong, strong enough to cause pain in her body.

"There is much to do... I believe we may have to send them earlier," She said weakly, clutching her chest... it was almost as if she was being put right into the war going in the other world. "I'll worry about Ruki and the priestess..." she said, jumping off the tree branch and onto the ground, changing her Arabian like outfit to be that of a Japanese schoolgirl. "Get back to me with as much information as you can, if you will."

Akai nodded, "I'll be back as soon as possible." The smooth voice that came from her mouth quickly faded as she turned around and headed back out of the area. Shuichi...Shuichi...Akai had to stop herself from clicking her tongue as she tried tothink of who that was.

Then it hit her, Shuichi Minamino was Kurama's other name.She rolled her eyes at her own ignorance of people's various names as she headed out. Kurama, part of the Reikei Tantei, fox demon hosted by the human Shuichi Minamino. That was who she needed to find

She could speak to him, she knew him barely, a couple years ago they had met very briefly while she was taking care of one of her numerous charges in the area he lived in. Although it would be very strange if she just walked up to him and said, 'Hi, how physically fit are you, and how well are you mentally prepared to go back and fight like a madman?'

No...that wouldn't be right...she'd have to make something up.

Well she had plenty of time, it would take her quite a while for her to get to where he lived.

* * *

Catsy stopped in mid-run, finding that she wasn't able to do things like she used to. She used to be able to run for miles, but with all these visions and everything, it tired her!

She waited for a moment, waiting for Akai.She knew Akai would probably come to her before going to meet with the redhead. The beautiful girl sighed... and suddenly having an odd feeling that somebody was going to sense her power soon and try to attack her in this weak state. 'Akai, is everything going fine?' She asked telepathically, closing her eyes under the tree that was near.

She was unaware of the fact that her paranoia may be correct... a priestess stood not too far. She was ready to battle, believing her vision had come from that girl. She was half right but also wrong and everyone knows, almost doesn't count.

"Flame Sniper!" In a moment's second, the arrow of fire went flying through the air,only missing the redhead by centimeters. Catsy opened her eyes in fear, seeing the girl with another arrow, this time she would hit... and if she didn't move, it would be her chest that'd get hit.

Words ran through Catsy's head, 'I'm on my way back, everything went well.' Akai's reply was loud, she was almostat the placewhere Catsy was and heard the cry of attack. She had been jogging, not running, at least until she heard the words "Flame Sniper." 'I'll be right there, and don't just stand still! Move!' Akai's voice was raised into almost a yell through the connection, after all she didn't want Catsy to get killed.

She got near enough to find the priestess and gulped a bit, reaching out her gloved hand.

Catsy jumped from her spot, finding herself out of breath and looking down the tree that she had given her some shelter, burned to crisp. She couldn't fight, not at this moment... and, besides, this was one of the people she wanted to send to Reikai. However, she still needed to do something. She saw Akai's actions and sent out a message, 'Akai, get from a seeing distance... and don't try doing what I know you were thinking of doing!'

Rei watched Catsy, trying to see what the obvious demon was going to do until she felt a small aura coming from a distance. An ice demon? She ran towards the area where she felt the smaller aura and prepared her ofuda, fusing it with her mars princess power until she found the demon... it must've been her lover, she presumed, believing Akai was a small male and quickly threw the ofuda onto Akai, to paralyze her.

"Leave Aki out of this!" Catsy screamed, running over, making fire with her fingertips and then throwing it into the ground, causing an earthquake of fire to go through the earth's surface. The power stopped a foot away from the two. Heh, she was getting weaker than she believed. She tried to try the attack again but nothing happened and the other female began to shoot out another attack towards her. She couldn't move; she was afraid, scared and weak... she froze in fear.

"Stop, please!" Catsy screamed, fear evident in her eyes... she was much too weak to take the attack coming to her, "You have no reason to go after us... we're here for the protection of the dimensions..." She pleaded the girl to listen and not to be so rash... she could see the priestess was fighting out of fear, to protect and believed they were trying to do her wrong.

Rei's eyes opened wide upon hearing the scream and decided to look at the girl and began to see the fear that was evident. Though, it has been true for bad guys to use emotions against people. She stopped her attack in mid-air. "Who are you?" She demanded, her violet eyes shining with the fire of passion. "I know you are the reason for my visions!" She pointed at the other girl with the strangely colored eyes, taking in notice of her violet eyes.

"Please, let Akai go..." Catsy said, again... "don't get her involved with this..." She put her hand over throat, trying to breathe as she tried to find some air."I know you feel it... the oncoming darkness of the other world... there is little time."

Rei stopped. Her eyes widened once again... the girl was speaking the truth. Lately, for the last three months, she had a deep feeling of darkness in another world that was trying to get into the human world, trying to get to her dimension... the dimension that her and the other sailor warriors protected. She still didn't trust her and therefore kept the ofuda on Akai allowing it to drain her energy. "How do I know--"

"You can trust me because I'm the voice in your dream; I'm the one whose told you and tried to prepare you to come to Reikai."

"The Spirit world?" Rei asked, looking at Akai to see if she had translated the word, correctly. "I can't..." She said, immediately her mind going to being about her princess and imagining something coming and she wasn't there to protect her so she continued, "And I won't. Usagi needs me!"

A male walked forward, his blood red hair blowing very slightly in the breeze as he came into view of the others. "Excuse me." He said politely to the priestess, bowing then coming back up, "I really don't think these people mean you any harm, and it's not a good idea to try to kill someone in public anyway." These were all good and valid points...

_**Kurama, the logical, quick witted one...**_

Catsy wasn't sure whether what he was doing what was smart but watched the two carefully, trying to see if the priestess was a reasonable one.

Rei's violet eyes turned to the red-head. For a moment, it took her by surprise, the politeness in his voice. She was never too fond of most males. She found them to be generally rude and only wanted one thing. It took her a moment to take in his words. It was quite logical.

The beautiful raven-haired female released Akai from her ofuda's destructive powers.

At this, Catsy sighed and immediately passed out to the ground.

Akai went to Catsy's side, poor girl she was expending too much energy. She needed to rest, a lot.

Rei on the other hand ignored Catsy for the moment and continued to look at the newest arrivial. This male, he was logical, and handsome. She looked at him critically and silently and then decided to finally speak, knowing no regular person would stop a priestess in any sort of action. "Konnichiwa, young man... you are?" She said politely, her question really being who he was and what was he to do with the people.

"Ah." Kurama's smooth, cool, calm, voice washed over the scene as a small smile played his lips, not a mean one, but a warm one. One of these smiles is something Hiei often called pointless, for really it meant nothing and was merely for charisma. "Forgive me, I was being rude. I am Shuichi Minamino." He introduced himself but then looked at Akai and spoke to her also to check on her and her friend, "Akai-san. Is your friend alright?" He looked to the tomboy for a brief moment making sure he caught her nod.

Catsy would be alright.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I could not help but feel the need to do it. Anyone with half a sixth sense can sense a priestess and they do not normally come into this area. I was merely curious." He lightly bowed his head again, his calm demeanor showing in this case, he meant no harm.

Rei looked at the scene and then at the handsome boy before her. She blushed embarrassedly and walked over to the tomboy and rested her hand upon her shoulder, "You can allow her to heal within my temple... my grandpa is half blind... and his senses are very low. Besides, he depends on me a lot as of lately." She said, quietly, not wanting anyone to hear her words as she picked up Catsy.

"Your girlfriend should be okay. Please, follow me, I'll make you some tea within my temple, the Hikawa Shrine." She walked away without allowing any objections as she carried the female in her grasp.

"My girlfriend!" Aki said, shooting up and running after Rei, "I assure you, she's not my girlfriend, I'm merely helping her because she asked me to, just like she's asking you!" She turned and saw the red-headed male chuckling,"Shuichi-san, don't laugh!"

"The way you react, it is so unlike your kind, Akai-san. Demons aren't usually, like this..."

"So I've become soft in my years of protecting the humans, sue me..." Akai sulked a bit, stuffing her gloved hands in her pockets. "She's not my girlfriend..." Akai mumbled again under her breath.

"I believe you Akai-san...but she is a girl and she is your friend..." Kurama was teasing her, and he knew it, but Akai had such wonderful reactions. They were almost like Yusuke's sometimes.

"Oh don't give me that. Okay yes in that way, she is a girl friend, but not..." Akai didn't even finish the sentence because she shivered.

"Please excuse Akai-san's behavior...he means well." He smiled a bit more and then was silent, following Rei.

Rei hadn't listened to one word that the tomboy had said, believing 'he' was just ashamed of his beautiful girlfriend. She turned to look at the redhead male and smiled slightly, "Oh, I don't mind," she laughed, "For some reason, he reminds me of Tenou-san and Usagi." It was especially weird that 'he' had reminded her of Haruka, seeing she was a lady, a tomboy, and a lover of a woman. She turned to look at Akai and stared for a moment. That isn't a girl, is it?

'I assure you, she's not my girlfriend,' he had said earlier, and the male started to chuckle. She stared harder, if this was a girl, she was rather flat-chested... unless it was a man who wanted to be a girl! Rei's cheeks burned with embarrassment with the thoughts in her head and sped up her walk to the temple as she wondered how polite it would be to ask someone if they were a male or female...

UGH! She'll get Usagi to find out.

Her mind couldn't take it, no, it was bursting with questions. "Excuse me, why are you ashamed of your girlfriend? And what the heck are you: a male or a female?" She asked, quickly, her cheeks burning red.

"I'm not ashamed of Catsy, but she's not my girlfriend and..." she adverted her eyes to the other question and Kurama decided to answer it for her.

"Akai-san is a girl that has been raised to dress like a man. So much that you take it to far extremes...am I right?"

Akai sighed, it figured Kurama would know, couldn't get much past him. "Yeah...I'm a girl, thus why Catsy isn't my girlfriend, I'm not attracted to her that way." Kurama gave a short curt nod as the redhead unzipped the top of the red jacket she wore, she felt so warm from having to explain all this...

Kurama put on another of his gentle smiles as he saw a person running down the stairs from the temple. This must be Usagi, not that he'd ever seen her before, but it made sense.

"REI-CHAN!" Usagi called out, her excitement evident, holding onto a small thing of mangas, "I just love this volume!" She giggled, coming down then jumping onto Rei when she turned around to listen to their words and reasoning. The odango-styled blonde smiled lightly upon seeing the company and then smiled harder once seeing Kurama and Akai.

It was time to set Rei up with a man. Her opalescent blue eyes shined with plans and excitement... and the pretty blonde was ready to get her plan in action, forgetting all the times that Rei had been angered because of this.

"Usagi, get off of me!" Rei said, throwing her off her back with a slight tug. Usagi smiled suspiciously, deciding the red-head more fit Rei... the other was too skinny in her opinion for Rei. "Usagi..." It wasn't unusual for Rei to not use the -chan connotation when speaking to her though she was her best friend... though she said it in a negative connotation but anybody reasonable with understanding would know that they were the best of friends. "Odango-Otama, did you not notice I was carrying someone!" Rei screamed though it was obvious the girl wouldn't listen... nor care.

The pure hearted blonde ran past Rei in ecstasy and almost knocked Kurama over, saying, "Hiya! I'm Tsukino Usagi, and you ARE?"

Kurama managed to keep balance, however did seem very surprised by the girls behavior, "I'm Shuichi Minamino..." he said regaining his posture of straightening his shirt slightly, "It's nice to meet you Usagi-san." he smiled his warming smile before looking to Catsy. "Akai-san. Are you sure your friend will be okay?"

Catsy woke and looked upon the girl whom was resonating the light that she felt... swearing she saw her before. "Thank you, madam..." she said, getting out Rei's grasp then falling to her knees once getting out.

"Huh, is she okay?"

Akai nodded, "She needs to sleep." She knelt down to Catsy, putting her hand on her shoulder, and smiling lightly, "She should probably eat as well..."

Kurama nodded, "I should probably head back home soon...Kassan will get worried if I stay out too late..."

"Shui-chan, eh?" Usagi said, a bright smile on her sweet face. She never was much on using anything other than -san or -chan and found saying -san to be of no use unless you're talking to someone much older than you or highly respected... if Ami were there, she would've corrected her on her grammar.

"Usagi could go get some water and something to eat for this girl..." Rei said, looking at the girl, bending over to check her pulse. The girl was definitely alright... but her blood pressure did seem up.

She, being Usagi, was just about to ask Akai her name but saw that what Rei said was much more important and ran up a few steps but was tired after going up just a few and started to walk up very slowly... those were a very large staircase. "Alright, Rei-chan, I'll be back!"

Rei sighed. She knew the girl was already tired, "Hurry UP!"

Catsy coughed slightly, couldn't Akai feel it. 'Akai, come here.' She thought telepathically to her, 'Don't you feel the oncoming darkness? Once the girl comes back down... we'll send everyone to Reikai with the help of the Time Guardian.. a woman over the dimensions.

'Of course I can feel it...' Akai had lived around darkness for so long and also influence by being around Catsy made her able to clearly see that something big was coming. 'Right away? You're too weak, and what about that girl you were looking at earlier? What are you going to do about her?' She concentrated, really this was a whole big mess, everyone was going to yell at them after this, but what were they supposed to do...

She sighed a bit aloud, causing Kurama to look at her, but she smiled and waved it off at nothing when she noticed that he'd noticed.

Catsy looked up at Akai and nodded her head but then ended up coughing right away. 'Yes, we'll need to do this right away...' She said back to Akai, a bit worried about the whole situation, 'if we have to, we'll join them...' She was straining herself to keep in this telepathic link... as visions went through her head of evil and darkness spreading across the land... and soon the Earth being no more.

Usagi came running down the stairs, and, behind her, there came Setsuna... so calm and almost Kurama-like in demeanor. Setsuna was transformed... for some reason, this was too weird... even weirder was the fact that earlier, Rei had use her flame sniper while still in her human form. Setsuna nodded at Akai and Catsy. For a moment, Catsy was confused, not realizing that this girl was the guardian of time- the one whom was supposed to help send the people to Reikai.

Catsy spoke again to Akai, 'We're sending the odango-ed blonde girl with the group we chose before... she'll be the hardest to send but that's why we're not in charge of getting her there. We, both, need to take a break after the argument I'm that'll come after this thing going on.'

Rei looked at Catsy in confusion, realizing that she was trying really hard to do something, was she trying to be sneaky... trying to communicate to her to say something she couldn't say earlier. She went into her pocket...

"Rei-san, stop." Setsuna voice from behind her, her calm voice lifting the air. It was a firm voice, a voice that commanded respect and was given it. "Aki, it is time."

"Time?" Kurama asked, for once he didn't understand, what was it time for...even though the statement wasn't directed at him...

Akai stood up straight, "Yes." she said nodding once, "I understand." she awaited any orders Setsuna might give her, she had learned by now when someone spoke to her, especially using her real name she needed to obey them, and if this person said it was time, and if she was needed in any way, she would she do it. She didn't like to act this serious, but this was a dark time, and seriousness was needed.

The sailor senshi raised her long staff into the air as the wind began to elevate and the top of her staff started to float, the orb that was floating began to glow greatly as the energy around that area grew greater in power.

"Setsuna-san?" Usagi questioned her friend upon seeing her actions. Was there an enemy around? Her blue eyes opened wide as she found Rei running to her side, grasping onto her wrist trying to get away but found herself unable to move. "Rei-chan, whats going on?" Usagi asked innocently, her voice worried almost like she was going to cry.

Catsy watched Setsuna's movements and recognized them immediately. 'Akai-san, we need to focus our energy to that orb floating in the air...' She said, her body glowing lighter than it usually did with a bright red color. The glow started to go towards the orb in great motion, the wind seeming to carry it to the orb. 'We're going with them... Setsuna, are you sure this would be enough energy?'

Setsuna nodded her head in Catsy's direction and finally decided it was time to answer his question. "It is time to accept destiny... Neo Queen Serenity and the rulers of that Kai have asked of this." She looked over to Usagi whom seemed even more confused then before with a sympathetic look.

"Traitor!" Rei screamed, feeling the energy get stronger as she tried to hold onto Usagi to protect her, "Hold on... odango-otama!" She didn't believe that the future Usagi would ask her to send them to another world, a spirit world. How could she protect her there?

Kurama stood perfectly still, not panicking, but not exactly calm either. "What? Where are you taking us?" he turned to Akai, as if she knew more than Setsuna did, which she did not, but she did know the answer to his question.

"To Reikai." Kurama blinked, how was that bad? He could get to and from Reikai in an instant, after all he worked for the people there.

"Why?" he lifted his arm to protect his face from the wind, it wasn't strong enough to blow him away, in fact...quite the opposite...

"The world is in trouble, we need to go." Akai obeyed, concentrating her own energy on the orb, how much she could give, she didn't know, but she'd help, or at least, she'd try.

Out of the outsiders, Kurama was probably least angry, after all, he knew Reikai like the back of his hand, but still this was ridiculous! If something was wrong Koenma would have called them, wouldn't he?

"Father Chronos!" She called out to her father, a god over over time and space, "Please block the gates form these creatures form coming in...' The wind got stronger and the sky suddenly went black and howls could be heard. They were already here... but, still, they needed to be sent. If she stopped to fight then they would never be sent. "Usagi. Rei... transform!"

"Moon Eternal Power! Make up!"

"Mars Crystal Power! Make up!"

The two warriors instantly transformed and began to listen to Setsuna speak more urgently as the wind began to become too strong for anyone to stand on their feet. "Once you get there, you'll need to be prepared... there'll be no--"

Sailor Pluto looked on and saw demons coming closer, they were trying to stop them... and she couldn't do anything at the moment to stop them without stopping this process.

"Silent Wall!" In an cliche saving anime moment, Sailor Saturn came with her protection and attack to allow the process to keep going.

Rei began to hold her head, feeling power beyond anything she ever felt and let go of Usagi. "Usagi!" She reached up as she saw Usagi flying away from her. "Nooo! Usagi!" She could feel death's eminence... it was close... and she even smell the blood of the other world.

She didn't want that blood to be Usagi's, next!

The cold floor of Reikai was unfamiliar in Rei's eyes, even after living in those cold years being meting Usagi. Spirits. They were everywhere... it was unnatural for this many demons to be in one place unless, of course, an enemy had been awakened!

Usagi's hand was no longer in her hand, and for a moment, she felt as if all was lost. She couldn't fight these demons even in her transformed state. "Usagi..." She whispered, waiting for an answer, her eyes still closed. She opened her purple eyes but it was blurry and it became obvious that the moisture she felt in her hands and on her shirt wasn't water... the smell of blood became evident and yet her ees were still blurry and fear increased as she realized Usagi hadn't grabbed onto her, afraid and talking about finding a way home. She wasn't dead, was she? "Usagi!"

**_Usagi, the one who was never meant to be involved..._**

**Author's Note:** Hey, this is NeoMiniTails and CharmKeeper. This is our newest story. I hope you all enjoy this story of our's. The great thing is that this story will actually get finished since we already wrote the whole story. However, for those who want to see the profiles of our OCs, we have it for you underneath this message. If you can, you should check out our other stories... they're very interesting. This story, if you stick around, will be a roller-coaster ride for you all... it is a very nice story with a deep plot.

No more rants about the story.

Just to let you know, the OCs profiles will be posted as they show up.

Name: Akai or Aki (introduced as Akai)

Age: 112 but looks 16 or 17

Powers: Control over water and ice, shapshifting, can talk mind to mind but doesn't like to.

Race: Half fox demon half wolf demon

Gender: Female, but dresses like a man almost all the time

Looks: Typically she appears with brown hair and ice blue eyes. Handsome (or pretty) and is about 5' 10' tall. Wears many different types of clothes but almost always covers palms, usually with fingerless gloves. Her favorite color is red, so you always find her wearing some red on her body. When she dresses as a man she binds her chest.

Weakness': 1) Shapshifting, can't change anything but her hair and eyes, not even her gender or voice.

2) Water control: if upset or stressed water might disobey her and cause her damage.

3) Lightning: Deeply sensitive to it. Often afraid to touch appliances for fear of shock

4) Because of the binding, she cannot run very fast for very long, if she tries to do so she will weaken, and if she does it for too long, she may die.

Strengths: 1) Ice control: Is very talented and creative with it. Knows many tricks.

2) Knowledge: is smart and can interoperate how to act or react (very good in fights)

3) Sly: Slippery, seems to sometimes "disappear"

Bio: At a young age she was taught girls shouldn't fight and her father wanted a boy so he constantly put her down, and once tried to kill her. Thus she developed her alias and used it to go learn to fight, when her father learned of this he slashed her palms, giving her scars that she covers with the fingerless gloves. These scars also limit her power.

To this day she still uses her alias, although she will not deny being a girl if you ask.

She's often traveled the different and gained experience, as an occupation she became a guardian or a protector for hire so no one she ever came in contact with, and came to like would ever have to go through what she did..

She's very passive on everyone except herself, with herself she's the exact opposite, punishing herself for every little thing. Even so, she doesn't let others see it very often and comes across as a kind and caring person.

**That is the Akai!**

Name: Catsy Wildfire

Age: 15

Sex: Female

Kind: half demon, half human (Unknown specimen (like Haji) called: Light Guardians)

Looks: Tall like a model, beautiful purple eyes, with a blend of red, and a tinge of yellow around the edge of the pupil of her eye,long red hair, if you looked really hard, she had ruby red cat ears on the top of her head. Beautiful face...

Personality: She is very sweet though she can be very mea when she is embarrassed or if she happened to like that person. She is very independent and doesn't like taking help from other people even when it's obvious she needs it. She longs for love yet wants to never fall in love for fear of being hurt or in her case most f the time, it's not her who's hurt, it's them. Her innocence comes off as sexiness since she doesn't really know much about the boy mind unless she read about it. At home, she is a comfortable girl who likes to walk around with only a t-shirt on (still wearing all that she should be wearing under it, of course). She's a bit of a tomboy and never wears make up and sometimes would just slip on some jeans after doing the bare essentials and put on a white tee. She's very patient and can easily be distracted by the simplest of things. She loves R&B music... and she loves movies that have anything to do with cats eve if a cat only par is to walk to the litter box, she would find the movie to be greatly written over the cat missing the big picture of the movie. Strangely, she can be very mysterious and has a tendency to disappear while one is speaking to her.

Power(s): Spiritual, fire powers, and cat like abilities

Weapon(s): A fiery bow and arrow with the words Hope imprinted on the sides of the arrow and the words 'Desire' going down the bow where it'll usually have a stick at that holds the strngs together.

Weak points: Easily distracted ( though, not in battle), her innocence, her insecurity of herself, stubbornness... she always finds every fault in herself in things most people wouldn't even think about. She hates her spiritual powers and actually any power she has... she calls it her 'curse.'

Strengths: Strong battler, pure heart, she is able to give everyone hope in the darkest of situations. She is the best friend anyone could ever have, willing to die for them.

**That is Catsy!**

**Please review and tell us what you think.**


	2. The Purpose

-1The cold floor of this world was unfamiliar in Rei's eyes, even after living those cold years being meting Usagi. Spirits. They were everywhere; it was unnatural for this many demons to be in one place unless, of course, an enemy had been awakened!

Usagi's hand was no longer in her hand, and for a moment, she felt as if all was lost. She could not fight all these demons even in her transformed state.

"Usagi..." She whispered, waiting for an answer, her eyes still closed.

She opened her violet eyes but it was blurry and it became obvious that the moisture she felt between her fingers and on her shirt was not water. The smell of blood became evident and yet her eyes were still blurry and fear increased as she realized Usagi hadn't grabbed onto her, afraid and wanting to find a way home. She wasn't dead, was she? "Usagi!"

­­___________________________

Kurama rubbed his forehead as he sat up. He had no idea where he was in Reikai, all he knew was that there were a lot of demons around...

Where was everyone else…?

He could feel Akai's aura somewhere nearby so he got up onto his feet and followed the trace of aura until he found her and knelt down shaking Aki's shoulders gently until he felt her stir.

"Uhn..." Her eyes lightly opened and she sat up, seeming to be asleep for the most part.

Where were the others?

Kurama looked around, trying to sense them but before he could even try he heard a yell, it sounded like Rei voice. "Come on Akai, let's find the others..." Pulling Akai to her feet, he led her to where he thought the voice came from.

------------------------

Rei could see the blurry vision of a red-head, seeming to be a female from where she was, coming close.

She shook violently... this place gave her bad vibes! Her long raven colored hair flowed with the wind, making her appear almost as a portrait of beauty to the normal person's eyes.

Usagi came running to the sound of Rei's voice with Catsy slump over her shoulder. Afraid and unable to scream, she kept on running to find Rei, knowing they were no longer safe and able to live the normal life that they wanted before. Gaining some courage, Usagi screamed exuberently, "Rei-chan! Here I am!"

Kurama continued to pull Akai along, following the now two voices he had heard.

Finally seeing and getting to Rei.

"Rei-san," He said setting Akai on the ground, who was awake now, but seemed to have fallen hard. In truth, her binding was hurting her right now because of the way she had fallen. "Does everyone seem to be okay? Aside from Akai-san." He said pointing to her.

Rei calmed, her vision getting to normal... it must've been the youmas in the area causing her energy to feel so sapped. "Usagi.." Rei voiced quietly, once realizing she was there and then in spite said, "baka, I thought you killed yourself... coward!"

"Hush Shuichi, I'm fine...I just need to catch my breath..." Aki's voice was strained, it hurt to breathe or talk, but she hadn't hit it hard enough to take it off. She knew she would really be okay in a minute.

"Hai, if you insist. So many demons down here, it hurts my head...I've worked here for years and I've never felt this many..." Akai continued as Kurama continued to question about her health.

Catsy jumped off from Usagi's back as fast as she saw Usagi start screaming at Rei about how mean she was. "Aki and Shuichi... are you alright?" She asked, looking around. The place was so different than what she remembered. It seemed almost lifeless... and more evil had come into the world than ever before. Everybody had been sent here... and she needed to get everybody into one general area.

"I"ll be fine..." Akai said panting as she stood up, unsteadily, but surely, she was a subborn child, "Just give me a minutes rest." Slightly annoyed by all the question about her was an understatement however hearing the red-headed female's voice seemed to still have a calming effect on her.

"I'm prefectly fine," Kurama himself said calmly and smiling lightly at Catsy.

"Kurama!" A familiar, young but husky teen voice was heard over the horizon, running over to the group.

He turned upon hearing his demon name being called, "Who... it sounds like... Yusuke," his suspicions were confirmed a second later, "What are you doing here?" he said as the other young teen ran.

Akai looked the same way as Kurama, she recognized the name, but didn't know what he looked like...

Yusuke calmed his posture upon seeing him though he was in bewilderment of the reason why he was in Reikai since Botan hadn't come to him about anything. Taking a look at the group before him, he couldn't help but wonder what Kuwabara would say seeing all these women. His usually overly gelled hair messily flowed with the wind as he walked over to everybody.

Three of the females didn't seem to be exactly demon or if they had any power at all... especially the blonde though there was this awe inspiring light that seemed to resonate form her that even he could feel. "Sup?"

Kurama nodded slightly at Yusuke as he came up, "A lot, and for once, I can't really explain it all..." the redhead sighed, turning to Akai looking her up and down to make sure she was alright, "I think everyone I'm with is alright...what about you Yusuke? What's going on with you?" Kurama smiled slightly, making light of the situation even though it seemed very grim.

"I dunno... I was just with Keiko and suddenly, I felt something pull me here..." He said in response, looking around. Reikai sure had changed. Surprise wouldn't describe how he felt at the moment especially seeing that Kurama didn't even understand the situation.

What was going on? Even though Catsy had tried to explain it slightly, he still didn't understand truly what was going on. "Akai-san, do you know what's going on..."

Akai shook her head slightly, "I know more, but not much more than you..."

Catsy stretched for a moment then decided to respond to their question, "Do not worry..." She said comfortingly though she knew Akai knew it was only to comfort those who were already there, "you are here for a reason. Makai and Reikai are in greater danger than they have ever been along with even your world, the terrestrial world of your being born. I have been asked to find a 'dream team' in a way to go into the next tournament and people who could and would destroy whoever is the reason for this problem... meaning someone of you will be acting as spies."

"Send us back!" Rei said, grabbing Catsy by her shirt, daggers thrown by her eyes... or it seemed to at least.

Usagi put her hand on Rei's hand calmly as she began to speak, "Rei, don't be selfish... life is more important and those dwelling upon that force are more special than just one or two people." She was never much on fighting and hated when Rei tried to protect too much as if she couldn't make decisions.

"Yeah so put her down!" Yusuke said defensively, seeing she seemed to have the most information.

Rei looked at him and frowned inwardly, "I wasn't going to do anything to her." She hated listening to a man though she only stopped because her of the blonde.

"So...everyone that got sucked here is part of this dream team..." Kurama said making little motions with his hand. That's weird. In an almost sudden realization, Kurama turned and looked at his companion with widened eyes. "Wait...that's why you came to me earlier!" He said, pointing to Akai.

Akai made a nervous face, "It was a favor though! I owe you, Catsy asked me to come see if you were... prepared... I knew something was up, early on, I have a good eye for that because of my occupation, but I had no idea how big it was...I didn't know about Koenma or anything..."

Kurama seemed a bit surprised, a protector like Akai do typically know all the details before all others. "So even you...didn't know..."

"No...not even Catsy knows everything...and she has visions...I do know we do need to work on this together, or it will never work. Even though I don't work for Reikai, I do care, the world I live in is dying."

Kurama nodded, "You at least have me, you have a nice array of works Akai, and you don't lie." the redhead smiled.

"Yeah and you have me..." Yusuke said in agreement, thumb up, winking, and a smirk on his face, "we'll show them!" he said honestly, noticing the smile on Usagi's face as she nodded though even he was sure she was scared and unsure of herself at the moment.

"What I know is from my visions..." Catsy confirmed Akai's words, "and what I've been told... I and Aki will be of help to you... furthermore, you will all need to get to know one another to gain trust for each other... no, this is not the only group sent here... you may not even meet the other people here."

Usagi smiled as she noticed Catsy walking away and decided it would be a good time to follow her. "Wait, Catsy-chan!"

_________________

Sakura slashed a few more times at Ruki, but he easily dodged them and retaliated by knocking Sakura across the room with a kick to her chest. "Sakura, you need to adapt your own style of fighting instead of trying to mimic the style I use." He explained as he offered her a hand up. She nodded and charged Ruki, before she reached him, she jumped into the air and attempted to use a downward slash followed by a spiral slash once she landed to try and catch Ruki off guard. He used a backflip to dodge Sakura's attacks then jumped behind her and held the sword to her neck.

"Checkmate." He smirked as she slowly turned around and sheathed her sword. "That last move was quite good. If I hadn't seen it coming, that probably would have hurt. Come on, lets go see what Lilly is up to on the roof shall we?"

Sakura nodded and she and Akai left the dojo and headed for the roof.

Setsuna's energy along with Catsy and Akai's went through Japan and around the world in a quick pace with the help of the warriors of the world that sent them to do this mission. 'Come Sakura and Ruki' the message was sent to the place, 'it is time to come to the Spirit World!'

With that, the energy teleported them to the Reikai world.

At that time, Hotaru and Setsuna came in and walked to the youngest of the siblings. "You need to come with us."

As Ruki was being teleported along with Sakura, Lilly had grabbed onto his hand. "Big brother!" She called as the three of them were teleported to Rekai.

As soon as they hit the ground, Ruki flipped back to his feet and drew his sword. "What in the world was that? Are you both ok?"

Lilly floated off the ground and back to her feet. "I'm ok, but where are we?"

Sakura got up and hugged Ruki close. "What happened big brother?"

Akai looked around slowly. "I'm not sure, but I get the feeling we aren't in Japan anymore."

Catsy felt the energy when it came and got to her feet to meet to where the others were. "Ruki, Sakura, and Lily, you are correct... you are no longer in Japan... but in the Spirit World... you have been chosen as to protect this world... as you would to protect your own."

Akai gave Catsy a funny look. "What exactly do you mean? Spirit world? We're dead? If that is the case, just take me and let my sisters continue to live!"

Catsy looked at the noble male, annoyed by the look he was giving her. She didn't know whether to smile at what he said or just shake her head at him. Heck, even if they were dead, in her opinion, that would be foolish to give up your life for someone else. Then again, that's what they would be doing, anyways. Even if he were dead, did he think he was that important where he could be as a sacrifice for two people.

"Yes, you are in the Spirit World." She calmly spoke as she noticed the wind was changing direction and the aura in the area was becoming darker, more evil, a presence was coming. "Even if you were dead, you wouldn't have that luxury of saying you get to die and they'll get to live... no one is so important to replace a life with theirs..." She said coldly as a chill went up her spine and her heart started to race.

"Follow.. me... this place isn't safe... you need to meet your group!" She called out as she began to run back to the group, remembering that the place in which they were staying was a protected place and they needed to get there now... before the harvesting time of the day starts. "Hurry!"

Tail wasn't sure how he got here and didn't want to know either. The place was so cold and some young blonde kept holding him tight and talking about how cute he was and asking another girl if she could keep him. Weird. Where was Sonic? Did he survive the explosion?

"I will call him... Chibi Chibi Chibi Usagi!" Usagi squeeled, squeezing the poor little fox.

"Original, aren't you, Usagi?" Rei sarcastically spoke before noticing Catsy running to them, "Hey, whats going on?"

"Harvesting... time... we need to leave!" Catsy screamed after telling them to follow her as the ground began to shake heavily.


End file.
